Interpenetrating yarn dyeing support

ABSTRACT

The sleeve of the tube-shaped support has holes ( 12 ) which are spaced over the top section ( 5 ) intended to penetrate inside the bottom end section ( 1 ); the external surface of said top section ( 5 ) is provided with longitudinal depressions ( 20 ) between the adjacent holes ( 12 ) aligned longitudinally; it is thus possible to avoid shearing or damage due to pinching of the yarn by the edge ( 1 A) of the bottom end section ( 1 ) of the support when it is fitted onto and slid along the smaller-size section ( 5 ) of an underlying tube-shaped support.

[0001] The invention relates to an improvement to dyeing supports for storing wound yarn, which are made of synthetic material and of the type with interpenetration between stacked tubes and the sleeve of which has a bottom end section able to receive the opposite smaller-size end section of an underlying tube, said sleeve having spaced holes and, inside said bottom end section, a stop surface for resting the terminal edge of the opposite end section of a support which can be axially coupled and engaged so as to allow the axial compression and sliding of the wound turns of yarn along said smaller-size section.

[0002] In these interpenetrating supports, during stacking and axial compression, the bottom edge of the support fitted onto an underlying support must slide outside and around the surface of the upper section of the underlying support and must compress the yarn wound on the underlying support, causing sliding of the turns of yarn wound thereon. This risks causing damage—and even breakage—of the yarn of the wound turns during the moment when the bottom edge of the tube-shaped support passes over and covers a hole in said bottom section of the underlying support.

[0003] The main object of the invention is therefore to avoid the abovementioned damage to the yarn wound in turns. These and other objects are achieved with the configuration which is the subject of the invention.

[0004] Essentially it is envisaged that, at least in said smaller-size section, longitudinal depressions are formed on the external surface between the longitudinally aligned adjacent holes, so as to avoid possible shearing of the yarn by the edge of the bottom end section of the tube which is fitted onto said smaller-size section of the underlying tube, during interpenetration of the stacked tubes.

[0005] More particularly a tube-shaped dyeing support according to the invention for storing wound yarn—suitable in particular for fine yarn—is of the type comprising a sleeve with three sections: a first section with a greater axial extension is substantially cylindrical or slightly frustoconical and slightly tapered from the larger base; the second middle section with a limited axial extension is frustoconical; the third section is substantially cylindrical and has an axial extension greater than the internal stop surface of the first section. Said sleeve has holes which are spaced and, inside said first section, has a stop surface for resting the terminal edge of the third section of a support which can be axially coupled and interlocked so as to allow the axial compression and sliding of the spool of yarn along said third section. According to the invention, the external surface of the third section of the sleeve of each tube-shaped support is provided with longitudinal depressions which extend between the longitudinally aligned adjacent holes; possible shearing of the yarn by the bottom edge of the tube fitted onto said third section during interlocking of stacked tubes is thus avoided.

[0006] The first section or bottom end section of the sleeve which is intended to receive the opposite end section of an underlying support may have an axial extension of about half the overall length of the support and the smaller-size third section may have an axial extension of not more than one third of the overall length of the support.

[0007] Said smaller-size third section of the sleeve has, on its external surface, longitudinal micro-grooves which may also be extended into a middle section, so as to favour sliding of the turns of yarn.

[0008] The holes of said smaller-size third section, which are arranged in longitudinal rows, may have the holes of one row staggered with respect to those of the adjacent rows.

[0009] The drawing shows a possible embodiment of the invention and in particular:

[0010]FIG. 1 shows a partly external and partly axially cross-sectioned view of a tube-shaped support of the type as defined above;

[0011]FIG. 2 shows a cross-section along the line II-II in FIG. 1;

[0012]FIGS. 3 and 4 show a detail of the interpenetrating coupling principle and show a partly axially sectioned view of the conventional arrangement and the arrangement according to the invention;

[0013]FIGS. 5 and 6 show partially local sections along V-V and VI-VI in FIG. 4;

[0014]FIGS. 7 and 8 show a local view along VII-VII in FIG. 3 in order to illustrate two relative positions of the tubes during engagement with each other and the drawbacks of the conventional solution.

[0015] The drawing and in particular FIG. 1 shows a tube-shaped support with three sections 1, 3 and 5; the bottom section 1 has a greater diameter and is substantially cylindrical or slightly frustoconical, the middle section 3 is frustoconical and the top end section 5 is substantially cylindrical. Inside the section 1 there is provided a stepped bearing surface 7, which defines a housing 8 able to receive the top end section 5 of an underlying tube-shaped support coaxial with that shown in FIG. 1, having an arrangement substantially shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. The upper edge 5A of the underlying tube-shaped support rests against the stop surface 7.

[0016] The section 1 is provided with holes 9 which, in the drawing, have a transverse orientation; the middle section 3 and the smaller-size top section 5 are provided with holes 11 and 12, respectively, arranged in longitudinal rows with the holes of one row staggered with respect to those of the adjacent rows.

[0017] The external surface of the tube-shaped support may have dot-like reliefs in one part at least of the section 1 and in one part at least of the section 3 which is adjacent to the section 1, in order to prevent sliding of the wound turns of yarn, while the section 5 is provided mainly with longitudinal—instead of dot-like—projections, as can be seen in the top part of FIG. 1, in order to facilitate sliding of the wound turns of yarn and thus allow compaction of the spool of yarn wound on the tube-shaped support. This arrangement is in fact necessary because with the positioning on top of one another and the interpenetration of tube-shaped supports completed by the turns of the spools B of yarn, the bottom edge 1 of the overlying tube-shaped support according to FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 must push the mass of wound turns of the spool B of the underlying tube-shaped support in the direction of the arrow f_(B) shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 7 and 8 in order to reduce the height of the spool B from the original amount of the formed spool—as indicated by B—to a lower level Bo indicated in FIG. 1, equal nearly to the length of the section 5; this is performed by the edge 1A of the overlying tube-shaped support which slides along the section 5 in the direction of the arrow f_(B) so as to compress the spool formed on the underlying tube-shaped support. This occurs in particular when the yarn wound on the various stackable tube-shaped supports must be treated in a dyeing plant.

[0018] During sliding in the direction f_(B) of the bottom edge 1A of the overlying tube-shaped support, in the region of the holes 12 of the section 5 there is the risk of pinching or even shearing or in any case damage to the turns S of the spool wound onto the underlying support which are in contact with the edge 1A descending in the direction of the arrow f_(B). This may occur when the edge 1A of the upper support—moving in the direction of f_(B)—reaches the bottom end of a hole 12 of the underlying tube-shaped support, as can be seen from the comparison between FIGS. 7 and 8. It is in the conditions according to FIG. 8 that damage to the yarn of the wound turns S may occur, said turns being impaired by the edge 1A which reaches the bottom of the hole 12 as can be seen in FIGS. 3 and 8, taking into account also the fact that these turns S are sufficiently tightly packed together and therefore tend to form a bead along the width of the hole 12. Damage to the yarn may have very serious consequences during subsequent processing operations, with the possibility of stoppage during processing and even defects in the fabric or in the finished article of clothing, as a result of the damage suffered by the yarn.

[0019] In order to avoid these drawbacks, according to the invention it is envisaged forming, on the external surface of the tube-shaped support in the section 5, between the successive holes of a longitudinal row of holes 12, a longitudinal depression 20 which extends from the bottom zone of the edge of a hole 12 advantageously even as far as the following hole 12. With this arrangement, which is shown in particular in FIGS. 4 to 6, the damage which would otherwise be caused at the moment when the edge 1A—with a more or less sharp edge—completes closure of a hole opening 12 (see FIG. 8) is avoided, because the wound turns S of yarn—which risk being damaged in the conditions according to FIGS. 3 and 8 of the conventional arrangement—are instead not impaired as can be seen at S1 in FIGS. 4 and 5, owing to the presence of the longitudinal depression 20 which allows the integrity of the yarn to be maintained.

[0020] The surface of the longitudinal depressions 20 may be smooth or shaped with longitudinal grooves—similar to the external surface of the zone 5—and these depressions may have a width less than or equal to the width of the holes 12. 

1. A tube-shaped dyeing support for storing wound yarn, which is made of synthetic material and of the interpenetrating type and the sleeve of which has a bottom end section able to receive the opposite smaller-size section of an underlying support, said sleeve having holes which are spaced and, inside said bottom end section, a stop surface for resting the terminal edge of the opposite end section of a support which can be axially coupled and engaged so as to allow the axial compression and the sliding of the spool of yarn along said smaller-size section, characterized in that at least said smaller-size section (5) is provided, in its external surface, with longitudinal depressions (20) between the adjacent holes (12) aligned longitudinally, so as to avoid possible shearing of the yarn by the edge (1A) of said bottom end section (1) of the support fitted onto said smaller-size section (5) of an underlying support, during axial compression and interpenetration of stacked supports.
 2. A dyeing support made of synthetic material, for storing wound yarn, suitable in particular for fine yarn, of the type comprising a sleeve consisting of three sections (1, 3, 5), a first section of which (1) with a greater axial extension being substantially cylindrical or slightly frustoconical and slightly tapered from the larger base (1A), the second middle section (3) with a limited axial extension being frustoconical, while the third section (5) thereof is substantially cylindrical with an axial extension greater than the internal stop surface (7) of the first section, said sleeve having holes (9, 10; 11; 12) which are spaced and, inside said first section, a stop surface for resting the terminal edge (5) of the third section (5) of a support which can be axially coupled and engaged so as to allow axial compression and sliding of the spool of yarn along said third section, characterized in that at least said third section (5) is provided, in its external surface, with longitudinal depressions (20) between the adjacent holes (12) aligned longitudinally, in order to prevent possible shearing of the yarn by the bottom edge (1A) of the support fitted onto said third section (5) during axial compression and interpenetration of stacked supports.
 3. Support as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the first section (1) with greater diametral dimensions of the sleeve has an axial extension of about half the overall length of the support and the third section (5) with smaller diametral dimensions has an axial extension of not more than one third of the overall length.
 4. Support as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said smaller-size third section (5) of the sleeve has, on the external surface, small longitudinal grooves which may also be extended into the middle section (3).
 5. Support as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the holes (12) of said smaller-size third section (5) arranged in longitudinal rows have the holes of one row staggered with respect to those of the adjacent rows.
 6. Support as claimed in at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the internal stop surface is formed by a step (7).
 7. Interpenetrating dyeing support, all of which as described and shown in the accompanying drawing. 